A look back at 2011 in Mathews

Mathews High School volleyball coach Pat Moughon gives her Lady Devils a locker room pep talk before November’s state championship game at Virginia Commonwealth University. The MHS girls completed an undefeated season, winning the VHSL state championship. File photo.

JANUARY: O.J. Cole is elected chairman and Janine Burns vice chair at the organizational meeting of the Mathews County Board of Supervisors…Foggy weather interferes with the annual Audubon bird count…Mark Rinaldi of Bush Company in Williamsburg donates labor to create new athletic fields on property the YMCA owns at Hudgins…The Rev. Ed Inabinet retires after nearly three decades at Mathews Baptist Church…To honor the memory of Judy Ward, the Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad establishes a $1,000 minimum scholarship given annually to a graduating MHS senior…State Sen. Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk) holds a meeting at Mathews Memorial Library to field questions prior to the opening of the 2011 session of the Virginia General Assembly…MHS seniors Lindsay Crigler and Casey Parrish are named to the All-State team in volleyball; sophomore Maddie McCann receives honorable mention…The Rev. Joshua A. Harris, pastor-elect at First Baptist Church, Beaverlett, speaks at the Mathews Branch NAACP’s King Day observance held at Wayland Baptist Church…According to Superintendent of Schools David J. Holleran, Mathews Public Schools will need almost $300,000 above the current appropriation from the county just to "break even" in the system’s 2011-2012 budget…Walter Alford, partner in the development company HARC LLC, talks to the Mathews Planning Commission about his vision for revitalizing a portion of downtown Mathews including the purchasing and partial demolition of Christie Auto Care…Mathews County Administrator Steve Whiteway, who has served in that post for more than a decade, announces that he intends to retire at the end of the year…The White Dog Inn, historically known as the Lane Hotel, is approved for listing on the Virginia Landmarks Register…The MHS Scholastic Bowl team wins the Tidewater District Tournament Championship following a 7-1 regular season, places second in the Region A tournament and later places fourth in the state Group A State Tournament.